(LAYTO - Little Poor Me)
"Damn Ese! You went Uncle Phil on Deputy Sachs!" Havier beamed as he smoothed down his tie and grinned like a little kid who'd just seen naked breasts in the flesh for the since his first wet dream. Elec rubbed his jaw, thankful that he hadn't needed to contact his mother from her shift in The Neptune Galaxy Resort Spa and explain why her youngest son was currently intoxicated and enjoying the best of Balboa County's local Sheriff Departments Hospitality. "Get him out of that cell now or I will wrap you up in legal litigation for denying my clients representation!" he said, doing his best impression of the older man in the suit.
"You young gentlemen behave yourselves now, as much as I am sure you enjoyed the Amenities here, I certainly don't want to have to spend any longer around our wonderful Sheriff than I absolutely have to" Cliff McCormack advised them dryly.
No official crime had been committed other than being in possession of a car that was not theirs, Matteo insisted that they had only taken the vehicle at Veronica's insistence so they could assess it for 'repairs'. No charges had been filed, a popular tactic of Lambs to ensure the more disadvantaged in Neptune were held for questioning that little bit longer, many times, and often without representation or a parent present. Luckily for them, Keith had asked him to take a swing by Holding to see if Veronica had been detained by any of the Deputies. A quick call to Keith and some swift white lies to the deputy on desk duty, and they had been able to convince Inga to give them the release papers for the lock up. Unfortunately the Vehicle wouldn't be released until either Veronica or her father came to collect it, but at least the two were spared a night sleeping in the crowded cell. Several of the journalists and tabloid photographers had been collected from the Neptune Grand Hotel for trespassing, and it was a little crowded.
Death of A List Movie Star Aaron Echolls. Sometimes justice never really did get served. His former college roommate, and best friend Keith Mars deserved that trial to be public. He deserved to be exonerated in front of the Media and town that had called for his removal as Sheriff. It wasn't right that Echolls would never see his day in court.
Lilly Kane deserved better than her killer to get the easy way out.
"You will have Veronica contact her father as soon as you return to Mr Navarro?" he asked Elec as he picked up the discharge slip for the car. He was relieved to hear that she was just out doing her usual sleuthing around. Leticia Navarro was a better influence on young Eli than the tough street kid would ever admit. Now that he was 18, he wouldn't risk getting involved in something that would hurt his chances at graduation. He'd told Cliff often enough during his visits for community service, he might be a bit of a punk sometimes, but he was a good kid underneath it all.
Hell of a mechanic.
Eli had just had to grow up too fast. Father wasn't around and his mother overdosed when he had been only 12 years old, Weevil had taken it upon himself to be the man of the house. He'd certainly done a much better job of caring for his elderly grandmother than his cousin Chardo Navarro who'd been arrested for credit card fraud. If only he'd get out of the gang life before he crossed a line. During his "rule" the PCH biker attacks on local businesses were less severe, usually minor things and the occasional grand theft auto were never on anyone who couldn't afford it. As unsettling as it was to hear that Veronica was getting mixed up with the gang, Weevil had been raised well enough that he would keep her out of any real danger.
"Lo tienes jefe" Elec nodded, shaking the older man's hand. Elec Perez was another enigma in the PCHer ranks, his half-brother, Cervando Esparza-Luna, had been one of the bus crash victims a few months ago. He had a fierce street reputation but rarely participated in most of the usual gang activities, and spent most of his time around the community centre helping in the RAICES Project with the Refugee and Immigrant Centre for Education and Legal Services. He regularly provided translation services when Cliff had to interview non-english speaking family members of his clients, and by most accounts, was a bit of player.
'He tattooed his dick with tears because it straight up murders bitches' one of the younger PCHer volunteers had informed Cliff on one occasion. Certainly not the kind of young man Keith would like his tenacious teenage private detective to be dating.
"You see that she does" Cliff said in farewell as he placed the papers into his briefcase and glanced at his watch, then towards the front doors where Deputy Leo D'Amato and Deputy Duke White tried to keep the Press and Photographers who hadn't yet been arrested outside the Sheriff's Office. His Client Logan Echolls was missing; when Keith had called he'd already been on his way to the Sheriff's station to collect the GPS data from his ankle monitor and insist to save himself a lot of Bail Bondsmen paperwork for when Logan was eventually found. 09er children had that sense of entitlement that meant, they didn't usually make very good master criminals, most never seemed to think that its not a good idea to pay for their getaway hotel rooms with their trust fund accounts or Mummy and Daddy's credit card.
Sighing he ushered the three Latino teenagers out the door ahead of him as they used the little known, staff exit to get out.
Rosita Garcia, one of Sheriff Lambs least favorite journalists was still asking him several questions while the news crews and press took notes.
"As of an hour ago, there is now a sizable reward for information leading to the location and recapture of the Fugitive son of Aaron Echolls. Details will be provided, and a dedicated tip line is being set up right here alongside the State Troopers, Border Patrol and our good friends from San Diego Police Department, under the direction of ADA Victor Bloomfield and District Attorney Forrell" Sheriff Lamb said, as he put both hands on either side of his Podium. His gestures were so exaggerated to make him look tough he appeared like William Shatners performance of Captain Kirk.
"It is unknown as to his movements in the last few hours since he slipped off his electronic monitoring device, but we can confirm that in the hours since his disappearance, there had been no contact been father and son. If you do know anything about the whereabouts of Logan Echolls, please do contact the Sheriffs Department, either via our facebook page, our website or by the number which will be regularly broadcast via our local radio streaming service for updates. Thank you" He continued and Elec shook his head in disgust, cursing under his breath. That guy must think he was using his job as a stepping stone for something better, every television interview he'd ever seen with the douche looked like he was auditioning for Blue Bloods or Chicago PD.
There was just something about the energy that guy carried that was completely self-serving. He created an atmosphere that anyone was the ant under his magnifying glass, even though all he really was, was some punk ass little bitch with a stupid badge and a gun. He helped perpetuate the unequal design of Neptune by dealing under the table and trampling over those he was supposed to protect. At least the old Sheriff, although not perfect and basically a human lie detector capable of seeing through all the PCH BS, had been honest, something that Elec could respect during their interrogations, but there was nothing to be admired about a man who manipulated the system for his own selfish reasons.
Elec hadn't really cared about the competence of the Law enforcement of Neptune, only in regards to its ability to land his ass in a cell, until the first week of School when his mother had called him with news that his half-brother had been killed in a fatal Bus Crash. Watching his creature of habit mother, call into a flurry of busy schedules and routines to avoid dealing with the truth of their loss had been a bitter pill to swallow. Cervando had been the kid who was supposed to make it, didn't always have a lot of street intelligence to go with those Harvard-worthy brains of his.
"Gura y tipo wey, estaba allí, y me miró…" Havier chatted to his cousin as they walked towards his truck.
"No mames" Matteo complained, trying to encourage the younger man to shut up. "Voy a pasar el resto de mi puta vida tras las rejas por esta mierda, gracias a ti güey"
"Te lo juro! ¡Es neta!" Havier exclaimed defensively.
"¡Dime la neta!" Matteo growled and yanked the bag of their belongings out of his hand. Luckily, he'd had enough sense to throw the flick-knife he usually carried under the seat when they'd been pulled over, but Havier was still too drunk to tell him if he'd been found with a weapon or not. Being under 18, it wouldn't be much more than a slap on the wrist for him, but Matteo was 18, and already had two priors, last thing he needed was to be picked up by the Sheriff's department carrying a weapon.
"¿Qué chingados esta pasando aqui?" Elec demanded when he finally said goodbye to Cliff.
"No mames wey estuvo bien chingón!" Havier grinned, before he was rewarded with a swift slap up the side of his head.
"I was supposed to go over tonight, Brie is gonna kill me man" Matteo sighed as he flicked through his calls and saw the several missed calls from his girlfriend.
"Si ella terminó contigo pues ¡chinga su madre wey! ¡Qué idiota!" Havier announced drunkenly, that tie flask of his must be completely empty from the way he was acting.
Kid was such a damn lightweight…
"Act like a puppy, I'll train you like one" Elec grumbled as he pulled out his keys and tossed them to Matteo. "Take him home, tuck him in" he ordered as he pulled out his own cell phone and fired off a text.
*Wua Vato?*
"Ai wey déjame tranquilo" Matteo grumbled, shrugging him off as Havier tried to lean over his shoulder to read his texts, and he showed Elec the latest about that chick his girlfriend had been trying to hook him up with recently.
"Ya no quiero salir con ella…" Elec said, shaking his head.
Level 5 clinger…
"Get in the car!" Matteo said, shoving Havier off him.
"¡Sale, vamos!" Havier burped as he reached for the door and slid into the front seat.
"Es hora de chingarle!" Elec shrugged as he turned towards the press, noticing Letty Hernandez, the reporter for the Tribune who had covered the PCH side of the Felix murder hearing during the summer standing in the corner. He often met her down at the center. If anyone would have the inside scoop on what was going on down in Balboa County Prison where Aaron Echolls had decided to shuffle off to have his deeds judged by his maker, it would be her.
Weevil and the little blonde, who was hot… if you were into white girls… be looking for this Echolls kid. He wanted answers. He was about to call her over when his phone buzzed in his hand, startling, mostly because Weevil didn't usually call unless it was something he didn't want a text trace for.
"De verdad, te has vuelto loco güey" he sighed picking up the phone.
"Hello?" a panicked quiet female voice answered.
"Hey.." Elec replied, stopping in his tracks.
Why the Hell would someone girl have Weevils phone? Was he hurt?
Elec had heard grumblings about an internal power struggle for the last few weeks, mumblings about needing new leadership, and questioning whether Weevil was still fit to be in charge, but he'd mostly thought it was just discontent, that it would die down. Still if there'd been a threat, he'd have had Weevils back… he just think there had been a spark big enough to trigger an uprising just yet.
"What's going on? Where's Weevil?" Elec asked.
"I don't know… we got separated" she said in a hushed voice. She was obviously in trouble, frightened, and from the hush sounds of her words. Hiding from someone.
"Is that Veronica?" Elec questioned uneasily.
Had Thumper's little troop decided to move up their plans for revolution?
"Yes" she replied in a panicked response.
"Are you hurt?" he encouraged, turning to signal Matteo to stop taking off from the car park.
"No…" she answered, sounding distracted.
"Where are you?" he continued as Havier screwed up his face when Elec gestured for him to get in the back. He looked towards the Sheriff's department, they were already out looking for her and Weevil. He'd just get caught up in an interrogation room, then the holding cell with some incompetent red tape if he went in there now.
He had to contact Cliff or her father…
"I don't know where exactly...I'm lost on some kind of island, we were on a boat... " she sobbed helplessly. "I'm not alone…."